Portrait of Johann Joahim Winkelmann.

Johann Joachim Winkelmann (1717-1768) born at Stendal near Magdeburg, in 1717; assassinated at Triest, in 1768; German archeologist, art historian, and art critic, was one of the founders of modern scientific archeology and art history. Author of Reflections on the Painting and Sculpture of the Greeks (1755), A History of Ancient Art (1764), On the Nature and the Cultivation of Sensibility to the Beautiful in Art, and other works. “His influence on contemporary artists - above all Mengs - was enormous, and his interpretation of classical antiquity determined aspects of German right in the 20th century. Goethe wrote of him: 'It was Winckelmann who first urged on us the need of distinguishing between various epochs and tracing the history of styles in their gradual growth and decadence. Any true art lover will recognize the justice and importance of this.' - from the Oxford Dictionary of Art